The Road That Was Long Seems So Short In the Terms of Now and Then

2 weeks left in M3 year. So unbelievable. Looking back, it's amazing what we've all endured, learned, and triumphed over. Every rotation has taught me a valuable lesson, and I have countless stories for each service. Now as I stare down the barrel of "the rest of my life" type of thing, I almost get this cold sweat on my feet, my heart starts to pound, and I start feeling really shaky. Now as everything comes pummeling on top of me: boards, step, schedules, CV, dean's letter, department letters, applications, step AGAIN....I just have to stop and take a deep breath.

Any advice for the M2's that will be M3's in less than a month is this: learn what you can, sleep when you can, and have fun when you can. M3 isn't the year that is so wonderful. True, no more 10 hour lectures in front of powerpoint, and no more PhD's trying to prove their worth by ass raping you via a 200 question final cumulative exam. Instead, you will have to wake up at a quarter to the ass crack of dawn, smile to the patients who roll over or curse at you for waking them up, then smile as the resident that's had too many mountain dews and not enough sleep curses at you for not writing down RANGES for all the vitals, and then retract like a pro when the surgeon yells at you for not reading his mind. Sometimes spending 12+ hours at the hospital. By this time next year, you will hate UMC as an institution because you realize how much of the past year you have spent in that place.

My advice: let it roll off you. What are they going to do? Kill you? If you show up when you're supposed to, do what you're told, you get the EXACT same grade as any world class kissass gunner that bought him/herself an extra 4 hours of work. Not only will you get the exact same 85 grade, but you'll have an extra 4 hours of sleep to boot.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have done a lot of things differently....
Surgery: I would have hid in the student on-call room and either sleep or study. I would have appeared ONLY when my pager went off. yes, some people may call you a slacker, but in all honesty you don't get graded for trauma call and your OFFICIAL duty is to basically fill out bifolds and scrub in to retract on traumas.
Family Medicine: I would have drank a LOT more and gone out every night.
Psychiatry: There are no tips except you're screwed for the test and no matter how GOOD or CORRECT  your logic, they won't give you credit for those questions that suck. The board exam? May as well take it with a hangover.
Medicine: you'll learn to write REAL notes and work your ass off. I learned the most on this rotation.
Ob/Gyn: no matter what you do, you're going to piss off your resident. Just ignore them and make it out alive
Pediatrics: everyone is nice and the kids are great. Take the opportunity to get your work done and disappear. If the resident says "go study and page me later" take that as "if you go home and don't page, they'll never realize you're gone".

All in all, it's another year down. I wouldn't do it again, but I learned a lot. And as an M4 i'm taking the most SLACKER schedule ever!!!!!

July: Anatomic Path
August: off for possible research/vacation
September: Clinical Path
October: Anesthesia for those who don't want to do surgery
November: Review of Histo
December: OFF
January: Computers in Medicine
February: House Medicine (hopefully VA)
March: Heme/Onc Clinic (Peds)
April: Family Medicine Clinics
May:  OFF
June: off for moving in/travels!!!
July: Start residency:

It's going to be a whirlwind, but it's here! THE LAST YEAR. I have a couple of pesky tests in the way, but all in all, we made it. We did it. Now, we become the slacker M4's!

The next giddy in our step: Match day!